Cougars blank West Aurora to capture win in first match

 

By Darryl Mellema

It took Plainfield South less than six minutes to score in Friday's season-opening match at West Aurora and the Cougars scored both goals in their 2-0 victory in the first half.

But the real sparkle to the Cougars' game showed up early in the second half, when the visitors started to dribble and pass and create opportunities and generally show the things they are capable of this season.

"For our first time being outside, to get a result is decent,” Plainfield South coach Dave Brown said. “We've got some decent players on this team who can move the ball. They've just got to start believing in themselves and trust one another and things will go from there.”

All teams have struggled for outdoor practice time this frigid spring and Plainfield South is no exception. Playing on a full-sized, artificially-surfaced field was a massive difference from what little the team has been able to accomplish working on a basketball court indoors.

“We've been in a gym and we got outside one day on a frozen field and today we played on frozen Turf where the ball's flying all over, and it took some time to adjust,” Brown said. “We're hitting some good passes where, in a normal game, it's to feet and today it's flying out of bounds.”

While the cold weather made West Aurora's field play quicker than usual, the artificial surface made the match possible. Many natural grass fields have yet to thaw and dry and become playable this spring.

“It was good to be on a good, flat ground rather than on our practice field,” Plainfield South's Abby Banks said. “It was a good win to start off the season. It's a good way to start and we hope this will have us build for the rest of the season.”

Banks scored the opening goal when she floated a free kick that went off the West Aurora keeper's hands and into the net. The second goal came with 100 seconds to play in the half when Kelsey Pruett hit home a loose ball from the top of the penalty area.

“In the high school season, you're not going against an All-State keeper every game,” Brown said. “We talked before the game about putting our chances on net and seeing what happens, and then following for rebounds.

"The first one went in and everyone's nerves began to get a little calm. Then (Pruett) poaches one from the top of the box for the second one and we've got a 2-0 lead we were able to hold onto.”

With the lead, Plainfield South seemed to relax in the second half.

“Today was one of those games where you get the jitters out,” Banks said. “The first half was the same. Then in the second half, we got more comfortable. We got some positioning settled.”

Banks and Pruett started to move the ball. Lexus Rose figured in those moves as well, and was always willing to hammer a shot toward goal.

“Lexus Rose knows what she's doing when she gets the ball in front of the goal,” Brown said. “Her and (Banks) and Alex Truhlar are the ones we look to from distance and they kind of have the green light whenever they have a chance.”

Defender Ashley McClendon moved forward into the midfield at times to further strengthen the attack. Alex Truhlar took corner kicks and created havoc in the Blackhawks penalty area.

In one move early in the second half, the ball moved fluidly from the defense to Banks to Alex Goff to Alex Truhlar, whose shot on the ground was saved for a corner kick. Moves like that happened frequently in that early portion of the second half.

“We talked to them at halftime about the weighting of their passes and playing more to feet and not to space today,” Brown said. “In the second half, as it progressed, we did more with that.”

West Aurora was not without chances of its own. With 19 minutes left in the opening half, Reilly Kulakowski fed Sam O'Brien, whose shot was blocked.

With 15 minutes to play in the match, O'Brien had a shot saved. And in the final minute of play, Yulissa Espino forced a strong save from Samantha Hlavac in the Cougars' goal.

“We just did not finish,” Blackhawks coach Laura Wagley said. “(O'Brien) had three, (Espino) had two and a couple of other girls had one shot and we didn't finish when we needed to.”

West Aurora has changed things some this season, shifting to a 4-3-3 formation to make use of its attacking weapons.

“Practicing it is one thing but actually playing it is another,” Wagley said. “I liked the way it worked, when we allowed it to week.”

Those chances came as a byproduct of the Blackhawks building play through their formation. There was less “hit and hope” and more patient buildup to the host's efforts, even though the goals failed to materialize for this match.

“We're a lot more offensive now and we have more support,” Wagley said. “That was the purpose of the new formation and it's working.”